Nov 13, 2013
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Veterans of Foreign Wars is pleased to announce it is a recipient of a $100,000 Google Global Impact Award to improve veterans’ higher education. Through the support of Google, the VFW will join the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), Student Veterans of America (SVA) and the Posse Foundation in a cross-coalition effort to conduct the first nationwide analysis of U.S. veterans’ higher education and implement proven best practices that help veterans persist in college.
As part of this initiative, VFW will expand its “1 Student Veteran” program, which is dedicated to quickly resolving problems that student veterans often encounter when accessing their GI Bill benefits.
1 Student Veteran expedites the education claims and appeals process, allowing student veterans to simply email 1studentveteran@vfw.org and explain any problems they are experiencing. A VFW staff member specializing in student veterans issues will acknowledge receipt of each inquiry within 24 hours or one business day, and will then either intervene with the VA on behalf of the student veteran or recommend other courses of action—free of charge.
“The VFW is extremely excited to have been named a recipient of a Google Global Impact Award and to team up with other veterans service organizations that believe strongly in higher education for veterans. The 1 Student Veteran program eases the often frustrating process of receiving one’s VA education benefits and allows student veterans to focus on their coursework. That’s a great first step toward success,” said VFW National Commander Bill Thien.
The VFW is the only major veterans service organization that has an outreach program dedicated specifically to resolving VA-related educational problems. To learn more about 1 Student Veteran, click here.
Last year, VFW’s nationwide network of 1,200 VA-accredited service officers helped more than 125,000 veterans to obtain $3.7 billion in earned compensation and pension from the VA at no cost to the veterans. Through direct access to VA Regional Offices, VFW Service Officers are able to resolve most GI Bill issues within a few days, whereas filing a formal appeal with the VA may take months.